I love summer. The heat, the long days, the sun, even the humidity. I also love summer produce and make it a point to get my fill of everything while it lasts. Ry’s always bringing home some superb produce. He’ll bring home a selection of whatever is at its peak, and this year, there was lots of delish stone fruit and tons of cucumbers.
One of our fave ways to eat all that good produce was having a bunch of these mix ’n match salads. They’re super simple to make and take little more than some fresh produce, herbs, oil, acid and salt. Use whatever is available and around. I’ve also done this with plums, nectarines and even a cucumber and cantaloupe version. One of my faves. Have some parm or feta in the fridge? Toss it on in, add a protein if you like. If the produce is good, you prob need little more than some olive oil and salt and you have a perfect summer salad.
For this version I cooked up some wild rice and chicken to make it more of a meal. You know, some extra carbs and protein to make it a bit more filling.
Ry’s always bringing home some superb produce. He’ll bring home a selection of whatever is at its peak, and this year, there was lots of delish stone fruit and tons of cucumbers.
Cucumber and Peach Salad
Ingredients
For The Salad
- 4 persian cucumbers slice in half lengthwise and tear into bit size pieces
- 3 white peaches sliced
- 1 c wild rice cooked according to package
- 2 chicken breasts or thighs grilled, seared, roasted, whatever you want
- 1 bunch fresh basil
- 5 sprigs fresh thyme optional
- 1 bunch fresh mint optional
For The Dressing
- 2 tbs red wine vinegar
- 3 tbs olive oil
- small shallot finely diced
- fresh thyme chopped if you have the patience
- 1 pinch sugar
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
- If you’re using wild rice, which I would highly recommend, get it cooking now. It can take a while, around 50 mins, but the texture and chew complement the salad really well so I highly recommend. Just follow whatever the packet cooking instructions tell you to do.
- You can also go ahead and get your chicken cooking, either on the grill or in a cast iron. I recommend just a bit of oil and salt. Let it rest for about 10 mins and slice up. I like this room temp over the salad.
- To make your dressing combine the vinegar, shallot, thyme, salt, pepper and sugar together. Give them a quick stir to make sure the salt and sugar are completely dissolved, then mix in your oil.
- To make the salad toss together your cucumbers, peached and a generous bit of your dressing. I like to plate the salad on a bed of the wild rice, topped with some chicken, another generous drizzle of dressing and then scatter some fresh herbs on top. In this case it was some small Greek basil, more fresh thyme and some mint. A little flakey salt, fresh prepper and you’re done!
2 thoughts on Cucumber + Peach Salad
This salad looks delish. I’m gonna try the same salad with grilled shrimp and then grilled salmon. Thanks.
Let me know how it goes!